To Save a Life
by DivineDragonSpirit98
Summary: Thousands entered SAO without knowing that they would be trapped in a death game. Shizuka's younger brother Katsu is imprisoned and she goes after him, knowing she could die in real life. The Kimura siblings must find each other and survive Sword Art Online if they ever want to get back to the real world, and Shizuka is willing to give up her life to protect her little brother.
1. Chapter 1

November 22, 2022

12:56 p. m.

It was almost one in the afternoon by the time Shizuka came sprinting through the door of her house, holding a large plastic bag in each hand that contained two Nerve Gear sets and two copies of the new game Sword Art Online. After she closed the door behind her and kicked off her shoes the 15-year-old immediately ran up the stairs to her right, her violet colored eyes gleaming with excitement.

Once at the top of the stairs she paused just outside the first bedroom door to her left to see her 13-year-old brother playing one of his horror video games on his computer. The windows were covered so the only light source was coming from the large computer screen on the wooden desk. By the looks of it he was completely focused on the game. Shizuka couldn't help but smirk. '_He's terrified of horror games, yet Katsu plays them all the time. And of course he didn't hear me come in with those headphones.'_ Now would've been the perfect time to sneak up on him and scare the crap out of her little brother, but she was in a good mood and merely switched the light on. The younger sibling nearly fell out of his chair when his room lit up, then took a moment to pause the game and remove his headphones. He leaned back and tilted his head as far as he could backwards to see his older sister. Katsu had black hair just like Shizuka, except it was short and scruffy unlike her long, wavy hair. His dark blue eyes were widened from being surprised, and then he pouted at her.

"Did you have to scare me like that? I was in the middle of a game," Katsu whined. Shizuka made her way through his room, which was somewhat clean besides a couple of candy wrappers and game magazines lying around. She stood in front of the windows and pulled the curtains aside, letting some natural light in. It wasn't much, considering the sky was completely overcast.

"Trust me, I could've scared you a lot worse if I wanted to, but I'm in a good mood. I got a little surprise," she said casually. "By the way, are mom and dad home yet?" Her brother tilted his head forward and turned in his seat to face her, blinking curiously.

"No, they won't be back 'til around supper time. What did you get?" he asked. Shizuka whirled around on her heel and held up the bags.

"You know that new game that just came out today?"

Katsu's face went into complete awe, his mouth gaping, then slowly muttered, "You didn't… seriously…?"

The sister's smile grew bigger and handed one of the bags to her brother. He grabbed it and practically tore away at the plastic to see a brand new Nerve Gear set and a copy of SAO. Gasping, he jumped up from his chair while holding the precious objects, completely ecstatic.

"No way! How did you get this? You would've had to wait in line for days to get a copy! This is so awesome! How much did it cost you?"

Shizuka laughed. She knew how obsessed her little brother was about SAO and would talk all about what he read from his magazines. Being the awesome, big sister she was, the older sibling bought the games and Nerve Gears for each of them. "I had to reserve us two copies while the game was being beta-tested, and believe me, it wasn't cheap so you owe me. But thankfully I didn't have to wait in line at all with this," she held up a printed copy of an order form, showing that she had pre-ordered said items. Without another word Katsu tackled his sister into a hug, thanking her over and over excitedly. Afterwards Shizuka placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him away.

"Alright, alright. You can get started now with your avatar for SAO, I need to steal one of your magazines 'cause I don't know much about the controls, 'kay? Plus I haven't eaten lunch yet," the older of the two said and knelt down to a cluttered pile of magazines, sifting through them to find the latest one. A magazine suddenly appeared right in front of her face.

"Here, this is the latest copy I have. It explains some stuff beginners like us will need to know," Katsu explained. Shizuka grabbed the magazine and stood up to head out. Right before she walked out of the room, she asked, "Oh, I almost forgot one thing. What's gonna be your user name in SAO?"

Katsu tilted his head to one side and thought for a moment. "I was actually thinking of just using my first name. I know not many people do that but I don't see much harm in it," he concluded. His sister wasn't as certain as he was but let it slide.

"Okay, but don't give out your last name, we don't need any stalkers. My user name will be Kiraka. I'll see you in Aincrad in a little while," She waved at him while strolling out of his bedroom. Katsu happily thanked her again and started setting up the Nerve Gear. Walking a little further down the hallway to the right she entered her own room. It was hard to see much of the light purple walls as they were covered in posters and a couple drawings pinned up, and her floor was a light grey carpet. Despite having a lot of stuff in her room it was kept clean and organized, so she knew where everything was. Shizuka placed the bag on the purple sheets of her bed, then headed downstairs to the kitchen. She passed through the living room, picked up the TV remote off one of the chairs and pressed the power button while still walking towards the kitchen. It was too quiet and wanted a little sound while she ate lunch and read. Right now on the TV screen was showing the news about SAO and how the 10,000 copies released were instantly sold out.

Shizuka heated up last night's leftover soup and snatched an apple from the fridge. Settling down on the couch in front of the television she opened up the game magazine and flipped through the pages until she found information on Aincrad. Occasionally she would take a bite out of her apple or drink a spoonful of soup from the bowl on her lap. Over time she finished her soup and her apple, and now that Shizuka was full, warm, and content, she began to nod off a little.

She tried to stay awake and focus on reading, but eventually drifted off with a smile on her face, thinking about how happy her little brother was. She would see him in a little bit in SAO. But first, a quick nap…

The teen was rudely woken from her nap by the sound of her phone ringing in her pocket. Shizuka flinched at the sound and rubbed her eyes before stretching for a few seconds. The living room was darker than it was before, with the TV giving off a dim light. '_How long was I asleep?' _She reached for her phone and checked who was calling. It was her mom.

She accepted the call and put the phone up to her ear and spoke. "Hello?"

"Shizuka? Oh thank goodness you picked up! I was so worried," her mom was sobbing and she leaned forward a little, eyes narrowed.

"Mom? What's wrong?" That's when she noticed the TV screen was showing live feed of people panicking and crying but the volume was too low to make out words. Something bad obviously happened, but what exactly?

Her mom quickly asked, "I know you went out to get that new game today, did your brother put on the Nerve Gear already?"

Now she was more confused. She checked the clock on the wall. It was about 5:20 in the afternoon. Katsu must be wondering where she was. '_Crap_.' "Uh, yeah, he put it on a few hours ago," Shizuka paused as her mom's sobbing increased, "Mom, what's going on? Why are you crying?"

The sound of her mom's weeping faded and this time her dad asked, "Have you seen the news yet Shizuka?"

"Um, I'm watching it right now. Here, I'm turning up the volume." Shizuka increased the volume and her eyes widened at what she heard. The female narrator in the background was explaining the situation.

"So far, over two hundred deaths have occurred due to people trying to remove the Nerve Gear off of the user in the past few hours. If a friend or family member is currently using the Nerve Gear, do not remove it under any circumstances as the Nerve Gear will electrocute the user and kill them." The lady continued that a few others have been electrocuted while the Nerve Gear was left untouched, but the reason behind it was yet to be found out.

Shizuka gasped. She couldn't believe it. It wasn't real. '_Over two hundred deaths? Just by removing a damn headset? Why would someone create the Nerve Gear like that?'_ Her thoughts instantly went to the person upstairs. '_Katsu_.'

Her dad continued on the phone in a stern voice. "Your mom and I are on our way home. Don't you dare try putting on the Nerve Gear, okay?" But she wasn't listening. In a flash she stood up and ran upstairs, dropping her phone and sending the bowl on her lap falling to the floor. The bowl shattered upon impact, but she didn't care. Her little brother was possibly dead and it would be all her fault! She's the one that bought the damn things!

Shizuka practically flew into Katsu's bedroom. The light was still on and she could she see her brother lying on the black sheets of his bed. She watched for a few moments and noticed he was taking in slow, deep breaths. The older sibling nearly cried in relief. '_Thank goodness he's still alive_.'

She began pacing around in the bedroom, thinking deeply. He could logout of the game himself, right? So there shouldn't be anything to worry about as long as she didn't try to take off his Nerve Gear. But then she thought back to what the lady on TV said. A few other players have died even when the Nerve Gear was left untouched. Was it because they tried to logout? Possibly. '_Or maybe… if they died in the game, then they died in real life too.'_ Her body froze, and her blood felt like ice. That had to be it. She didn't know how, but she knew she was right. Her brother was stuck in a death game, and it was her fault. Shizuka loved her younger brother, and it was her job to look after him.

'_DAMNIT! He's trapped in a death game and it's my fault! I have to do something! Anything!'_ She continued pacing the room. Shizuka was warned not to put on the Nerve Gear, but her little brother could be in trouble right now! Would unplugging it work? No, the game magazine said it had an internal battery in it, so that wouldn't do any good. She had to decide: help her brother or do nothing.

The teenage girl could hear a car coming up to the house. Her parents would take away her Nerve Gear set and she wouldn't be able to do anything to help Katsu. Each precious second was ticking by. It felt like she was inside a time bomb ready to go off any moment.

'_It's now or never.'_

Rushing to her bedroom, she took out the Nerve Gear and game from the bag. Heart pounding, she put the game in and strapped on the Nerve Gear. By the time she was laying on her bed she could hear her parents running up the stairs. Her entire body felt like ice now and her heart was thudding faster than ever.

Shizuka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Time stopped.

"_LINK START!"_

'_Sorry mom and dad. I'm on my way Katsu!'_


	2. Chapter 2

November 6, 2022

5:37 p. m.

_Rushing to her bedroom, she took out the Nerve Gear and game from the bag. Heart pounding, she put the game in and strapped on the Nerve Gear. By the time she was laying on her bed she could hear her parents running up the stairs. Her entire body felt like ice now and her heart was thudding faster than ever._

_Shizuka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Time stopped._

"_**LINK START!"**_

'_**Sorry mom and dad. I'm on my way Katsu!'**_

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><p>As soon as she uttered those words, she first saw a white void, but a moment later her vision was filled with several different colors darting past her, giving Shizuka the illusion that she was falling. Then is stopped and before the teen was the language she wanted while using the Nerve Gear. She picked Japanese and because she had never used the Nerve Gear she had to enter in some personal information and create a password.<p>

She expected a menu to appear so she could create and customize an avatar for SAO. Strangely, all Shizuka could do was chose her username (Kiraka), the color of her armor (purple) and what weapon she wanted to start with (one-handed sword). The white void was replaced by darkness. A loud heartbeat thumped loudly in her ears. _'Okay, this is weird. Where am I now?' _It took her a few moments to realize her eyes were still closed, and slowly opened them while simultaneously the heart beat faded. Everything was blurry at first, and the noise around her was muffled. Her senses cleared soon enough, and Kiraka was beyond shock at what she saw. She stood in the center of a plaza at where she guessed was in the Town of Beginnings.

All hell was loose.

She twisted herself around and saw nothing but other players, crying and screaming in disbelief or collapsed on the ground in silence. Most pushed and shoved each other while others appeared to be desperately trying to pull their heads off. _'Probably trying to pull of the Nerve Gear on their real bodies, but doesn't look like it's doing any good.' _Ominous questions were looming over her; why are they all in chaos? Did they somehow know of the deaths caused by the Nerve Gear? Was Katsu okay?

It would be near impossible to find her brother in this turmoil, but she had to try. Kiraka shoved her way through, calling her brother's name. The problem though was she could barely hear herself over the yelling of frantic people, and upon pushing through the crowds she was met with the sight of more unfamiliar faces. They cursed and sobbed, looks of hopelessness hung on their faces. After about 20 minutes of tremendous effort she finally broke free from the confusion within the plaza. Among the narrow cobblestone streets in between buildings a couple of players here and there were pacing the dark alleys or running in the opposite direction of the mass of people shoulder to shoulder within the plaza.

"Katsu! Can you hear me?! Where are you?!" Kiraka shouted while she searched desperately for her younger sibling. So far there was no sign of him. Katsu could be lost in the crowd or already on his way to the next town. Nevertheless, she persisted onwards around the outside of the plaza, calling for her brother. Then she heard someone cry out her real name.

She halted in place and went quiet. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a figure pacing back and forth in a dark alleyway. She turned and, as luck would have it, Katsu was there. He had hands up to his face before brushing over his black hair, then rested them on the back of his head. The younger sibling's quick pace was staggered as he continued to mutter to himself.

Kiraka wasted no time and ran up to her brother. "Katsu!"

Her brother swiveled around to face her, his face full of relief and on the verge of tears. "Shizuka!"

They tackled each other into a bone crushing hug, both thankful that the other was alive. They stood like that while catching their breath but only for a few seconds. It was Katsu that spoke first, but his voice shook. "I-I thought y-you were dead. I l-looked everywhere b-but couldn't f-find you."

Kiraka broke away the hug to look him in the eye. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. The truth is, I just logged in not even half an hour ago." Katsu was astonished by her words.

"What?! Do you even know what's going on in here? Shizuka, we're in a death game and we can't log out! The creator of the game made it so that if we die in the game our brains are fried," her brother rambled so fast she could hardly keep up. His words became scrambled and the sentences he formed weren't very intelligible.

Eventually she placed her hands on Katsu's shoulders. "Stop. Just calm down a moment and explain to me slowly what's going on. But first, let's find a place quieter and talk privately." The younger sibling nodded and led the way through the deserted streets of the town until they were at the edge of town. Before them were open grassy hills and a dirt road leading to another town. The sun was setting in the west, giving the landscape a reddish-orange hue. In the distance Kiraka could see trees, mountains and lakes. There were even a few free-floating islands hundreds of meters above the ground.

The older sibling let out a sigh. "Okay, now fill me in on what happened from the beginning. It seemed like every player in the game was gathered in the center of town. Why is that?"

Katsu looked at his feet and sat down on the grass and explained to her, "Well, a few hours after the game started a lot of players noticed that the logout button was missing from the main menu. A few players died and for some reason didn't try to log back in. That's when everybody was teleported back to the plaza. This huge guy wearing a red cloak with no face appeared and said that he was Akihiko Kayaba. He told us that the missing logout button in this game was no bug in the system, and that already over two hundred people had died already, mostly from friends and family members taking the Nerve Gear off the user. The only way to escape SAO is by defeating the game."

Kiraka nodded, acknowledging what she had heard. She already knew of the players that have died in the past few hours, but decided to keep her mouth shut until Katsu was finished.

Her brother took in a shaky breath before continuing. "Then he told us all to check our item inventory 'cause he gave each player a mirror. After that, there was a huge flash of white and everybody looked different. A lot of girls became guys, younger players became older, and vice versa. All the players looked just like they did in real life. Then Kayaba disappeared and everything went downhill."

Kiraka leaned back a little on one foot and looked up to the darkening sky. A few things started to make sense, but she didn't understand something. She muttered darkly, "Why the hell would that bastard do this? It's just supposed to be a game; now it's a fight for survival."

Katsu answered her question hesitantly. "He said that he wanted to be able to control our fates, and a world of his creation." There was a pause between them. Then he asked, "Wait, you said you logged in not too long ago right? Do people in the real world know what's happening to the players in Aincrad?"

His sister closed her eyes for a moment. "Yeah, sort of. That's why I just logged in."

The younger sibling stood up, dumbfounded. "Why? If you knew this what was happening than why did you log in?! The only way we can get out is by beating all one hundred floors, and that's impossible! We're stuck here!" He ran his hands through his scruffy hair and shook his head, growling at himself.

The older teen grabbed her brother by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up to her face, her furious violet eyes staring into his dark blue ones. "Because it's my fault your trapped here and I'll make sure we get out alive! Did you honestly think I would leave my little brother in a death game and do nothing? I knew the risks but that didn't stop me!" She sighed again, letting go of his shirt. Katsu hung his head, a little flustered at his sister's words.

She took another glance at their surroundings. Kiraka spotted a group of small, dragon-like creatures flying in the distance. "It's going to get dark soon. I don't know about you but I plan on beating this game, and I hope you don't plan on giving up right away. You got a head start in front of me, so you decide. Wanna stay here and head to the next town in the morning or go right now?"

Katsu looked up at him, slightly surprised at her quick mood change. He thought to himself, then declared with a bit more confidence in his voice, "We should head out now. That way we can get ahead of the players still at the plaza and level up fighting monsters. Plus, I can show you a couple tricks I picked up from other players."

Kiraka nodded, a smile graced her lips and her eyes lightened with confidence. Together they ran side by side down the road to the next town. In between breaths, the sister told her brother, "I almost forgot - to remind you - now that we're in the game - call me Kiraka, 'kay?"

Her brother nodded. "Yeah, kinda forgot about that actually. I don't think – many people use – their real names. Oh well! Guess I'm special."

His sister snorted, amused. _'He's usually full of himself, but I'm used to that by now.'_

Time passed quickly as the siblings worked as a team to fight off wolves, boars, and other monsters as they came closer to the next town. It was nearly 8:30 p. m. by the time they entered the next town, which appeared empty besides MPCs wandering around. They were both exhausted and had used up the rest of Katsu's healing crystals. They found a cheap hotel and crashed in their different rooms immediately, not bothering to eat dinner. As tired as Kiraka was, she couldn't fall asleep easily at first. It was only now that she was finally absorbing in the shock and the consequences of logging into Sword Art Online.

_'God knows how long it's gonna take to beat this game, or if I'll live long enough to see through to the end. But it doesn't matter. There's no way I would abandon my little brother here alone.'_

The teen thought back to the thousands of players that had friends and family worrying about them. Kiraka knew that her parents were probably frightened over her and Katsu's wellbeing. Or more likely furious at her; she was the one that bought the Nerve Gears and disobeyed their parents by going after her brother. It didn't matter at the time, the girl eventually grew too tired to think about it and fell into a dreamless sleep.

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><p><strong>If you find any errors in this chapter let me know, I would appreciate it :)<strong>

**Thank you!**

**I do not own SAO**


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